November 18, 2010 — January 29, 2011

Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center, Troy NY

Without the work of the artists who have generously contributed their reflections on anxiety, Uncertain Spectator would not exist. I am deeply grateful to the artists who lent their work, time and thought to this exhibition: Graciela Carnevale, Anthony Discenza, Claire Fontaine, Kate Gilmore, Tue Greenfort, Susanna Hertrich, Jesper Just, Marie Sester, Scott Fitzgerald, SUPERFLEX, and Jordan Wolfson.

The curatorial team at EMPAC was a tremendous resource for realizing Uncertain Spectator. I would like to extend my gratitude to Kathleen Forde, curator, time-based visual arts, who provided unparalleled guidance and enthusiasm throughout the planning of this exhibition. My sincere thanks goes to Johannes Goebel, EMPAC director, for his support of this exhibition, as well as to Hélène Lesterlin, curator, dance, and Micah Silver, curator, music, for their valuable feedback.

Enormous thanks is due to the galleries that lent work to the exhibition, including 1301PE Gallery (Los Angeles), Catharine Clark Gallery (San Francisco), Johann König Gallery (Berlin), Metro Pictures (New York), and Galerie Neu (Berlin). I am indebted also to Armelle Pradalier from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States for their support of Marie Sester’s commission, FEAR.

The printed catalog would not be possible without the contributions of the following individuals: Max Hernandez-Calvo, who wrote the catalog’s commissioned essay; Andrew Rarig, who found an elegant resolution to a difficult design problem; Barbara Stubblebine, who thoughtfully edited its texts; Shannon Johnson, who shepherded its texts onto the page; and Julia Alsaraff and Johnny Goett, who contributed crucial editorial feedback.

Uncertain Spectator was meticulously installed by Shawn Snow, Jack Schaffer, and Michael Wells, and I am truly appreciative of their efforts and care in stationing each of these works at EMPAC.

This exhibition has drawn on the expertise of many EMPAC staff members, and my heartfelt thanks goes to them all for their tireless work in realizing this exhibition.

—Emily Berçir Zimmerman Assistant curator

Uncertain Spectator exhibition opening Photo: Travis Cano

TOUR

Thursday, November 18, 5:30 PM

OPENING

Thursday, November 18, 6:00 PM — 10:00 PM

Featuring the Troy Chainsaw Ensemble

The Troy Chainsaw Ensemble is a musical group committed to aural invention through two-cycle combustion. The group engages playfully with the visual stereotypes of the
chainsaw while employing the rich timbral qualities of the tool to create saturated washes of sound.

SCREENING

Dancer in the Dark

Thursday, November 18, 7:00 PM

An assault against escapism in film, Dancer in the Dark is an agonizing and unrelenting narrative of cruelty, hardship and human nature,
punctuated with sequences of song and dance.

Uncertain Spectator is FREE + Open to the public

HOURS:

INFORMATION:

EMPAC 2010-2011 presentations, residencies and commissions are supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The National Dance Project of the
New England Foundation for the Arts (with lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, additional funding from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the
Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation, and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust), and the New York State Council for the Arts. Special thanks to
the Jaffe Fund for Experimental Media and Performing Arts for support of artist commissions.

Marie Sester's FEAR was made possible with support from the Cultural Services of the French Embassy in the United States.